Automatically moving a conferencing based on proximity of a participant

ABSTRACT

Customizing a conferencing system based on proximity of a participant. A first participant may be detected as being proximate to a first conferencing system. For example, the first participant may provide user input to check in to the first conferencing system. Alternatively, the conferencing system may automatically detect the first participant (e.g., by automatically detecting a personal device of the first participant). In response to detecting the proximate participant, the first conferencing system may be automatically customized for the participant.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to conferencing and, morespecifically, to automatically customizing a conferencing system basedon proximity of a participant.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Conferencing may be used to allow two or more participants at remotelocations to communicate using audio. Additionally, Videoconferencingmay be used to allow such participants to communicate using both videoand audio. Each participant location may include a conferencing systemfor audio and/or video communication with other participants. Some ofthe conferencing systems may be customized by participants, e.g., wherethe conferencing system has a participant's desired conferencingsettings, contact list, etc. However, the participant's custom settingsare localized only to those conferencing systems that the participanthas manually configured. Accordingly, improvements in conferencing aredesired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments are presented of a system and method for customizinga conferencing system based on proximity of a participant.

Initially, the method may detect that a participant is in proximity to aconferencing system. According to various embodiments, the conferencingsystem may be an audio conferencing system or a videoconferencingsystem. Additionally, the detection may be performed manually orautomatically, as desired. For example, the participant may provide userinput to “check in” to the conferencing system, e.g., by entering apersonal identification number of the participant, logging in to theconferencing system, etc. Alternatively, the conferencing system (orsome device associated with the conferencing system) may be configuredto automatically detect the participant, without receiving user inputidentifying the participant. For example, the conferencing system may beconfigured to detect a personal device (e.g., mobile communicationdevice such as a cell phone or smart phone, or other types of devices,such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), netbooks, tablets, laptops,etc.) of the participant. In some embodiments, the personal device maybe detected via a short range communication protocol, e.g., via 802.11x,Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC) protocols, etc. As anotherexample, the conferencing system may detect a geographic position of thepersonal device (e.g., which may report that geographic position, suchas GPS coordinates, to a server) and compare the position to its own,known position. Thus, the method may detect that a participant isproximate to the conferencing system.

Based on the detection that the participant is in proximity to theconferencing system, the method may automatically customize theconferencing system. Customizing the conferencing system may includeloading content associated with the first participant. In someembodiments, the content may already be stored on the conferencingsystem or it may be automatically downloaded from a server (e.g., over alocal area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), such as theInternet). Once downloaded, the content may be loaded onto theconferencing system so as to customize the conferencing system for theparticipant. The content may be any of various settings or otherinformation that is already associated with the participant. Forexample, the content may include a contact list associated with thefirst participant. Thus, even though the participant may be at a newconferencing system, his contact list may be loaded and available at thenew conferencing system based on the automatic customization. Similarly,other content may be loaded, such as recording settings, camerasettings, conferencing layout settings (e.g., for videoconferences),presentation settings, background images, menu layouts, etc. Further, aconference schedule associated with the participant may be loaded.

In one embodiment, the participant may have a scheduled conference callthat is associated with a different conferencing system. However, inresponse to detecting that the participant is proximate to theconferencing system above, the conferencing system may automaticallyassociate the upcoming conference with the new conferencing system.Accordingly, the participant may use the new conferencing system for theconference even though it was originally scheduled with a differentconferencing system. Further, the method may automatically release orfree the original conferencing system since it is now being performed bythe new conferencing system.

Additionally, where multiple participants are detected in proximity tothe conferencing room, the method may perform various actions. Forexample, in one embodiment, the customization may occur for theparticipant that arrived soonest, for a participant having highestpriority or seniority, or via other automatic selections. Alternatively,or additionally, the customization may occur for the participant thatmanually checks in (e.g., via the methods described above, amongothers). For example, in response to detecting the multipleparticipants, the conferencing system may display a log in or check inscreen for one of the participants to check in, rather thanautomatically selecting one of the participants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate exemplary videoconferencing system participantlocations, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate exemplary conferencing systems coupled indifferent configurations, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method forcustomizing a conference based on proximity of a participant; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method forautomatically using a first conferencing system instead of a secondconferencing system based on proximity of a participant.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the invention to theparticular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims. Note the headings are for organizational purposes only and arenot meant to be used to limit or interpret the description or claims.Furthermore, note that the word “may” is used throughout thisapplication in a permissive sense (i.e., having the potential to, beingable to), not a mandatory sense (i.e., must). The term “include”, andderivations thereof, mean “including, but not limited to”. The term“coupled” means “directly or indirectly connected”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Incorporation by Reference

U.S. Patent Application titled “Video Conferencing System Transcoder”,Ser. No. 11/252,238, which was filed Oct. 17, 2005, whose inventors areMichael L. Kenoyer and Michael V. Jenkins, is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

U.S. Patent Application titled “Virtual Decoders”, Ser. No. 12/142,263,which was filed Jun. 19, 2008, whose inventors are Keith C. King andWayne E. Mock, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety asthough fully and completely set forth herein.

U.S. Patent Application titled “Video Conferencing Device which PerformsMulti-way Conferencing”, Ser. No. 12/142,340, whose inventors are KeithC. King and Wayne E. Mock, is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety as though fully and completely set forth herein.

U.S. Patent Application titled “Conferencing System Utilizing a MobileCommunication Device as an Interface”, serial number 12/692,915, whoseinventors are Keith C. King and Matthew K. Brandt, is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completelyset forth herein.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/093,948, titled “Recording aVideoconference Based on Recording Configurations”, filed Apr. 26, 2011,whose inventors are Ashish Goyal and Binu Kaiparambil Shanmukhadas.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/724,226, titled “AutomaticConferencing Based on Participant Presence”, filed on Mar. 15, 2010,whose inventor is Keith C. King, is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein.

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in the present application:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices.The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium,e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memoryor random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, RambusRAM, etc.; or a non-volatile memory such as a magnetic media, e.g., ahard drive, or optical storage. The memory medium may comprise othertypes of memory as well, or combinations thereof. In addition, thememory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programsare executed, or may be located in a second different computer whichconnects to the first computer over a network, such as the Internet. Inthe latter instance, the second computer may provide programinstructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memorymedium” may include two or more memory mediums which may reside indifferent locations, e.g., in different computers that are connectedover a network.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), smart phone, television system, grid computing system,or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term“computer system” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (orcombination of devices) having at least one processor that executesinstructions from a memory medium.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIGS. 1 and 2—Exemplary Participant Locations

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a videoconferencingparticipant location, also referred to as a videoconferencing endpointor videoconferencing system (or videoconferencing unit). Thevideoconferencing system 103 may have a system codec 109 to manage botha speakerphone 105/107 and videoconferencing hardware, e.g., camera 104,display 101, speakers 171, 173, 175, etc. The speakerphones 105/107 andother videoconferencing system components may be coupled to the codec109 and may receive audio and/or video signals from the system codec109.

In some embodiments, the participant location may include camera 104(e.g., an HD camera) for acquiring images (e.g., of participant 114) ofthe participant location. Other cameras are also contemplated. Theparticipant location may also include display 101 (e.g., an HDTVdisplay). Images acquired by the camera 104 may be displayed locally onthe display 101 and/or may be encoded and transmitted to otherparticipant locations in the videoconference. In some embodiments,images acquired by the camera 104 may be encoded and transmitted to amultipoint control unit (MCU), which then provides the encoded stream toother participant locations (or videoconferencing endpoints)

The participant location may further include one or more input devices,such as the computer keyboard 140. In some embodiments, the one or moreinput devices may be used for the videoconferencing system 103 and/ormay be used for one or more other computer systems at the participantlocation, as desired.

The participant location may also include a sound system 161. The soundsystem 161 may include multiple speakers including left speakers 171,center speaker 173, and right speakers 175. Other numbers of speakersand other speaker configurations may also be used. The videoconferencingsystem 103 may also use one or more speakerphones 105/107 which may bedaisy chained together.

In some embodiments, the videoconferencing system components (e.g., thecamera 104, display 101, sound system 161, and speakerphones 105/107)may be coupled to a system codec 109. The system codec 109 may be placedon a desk or on the floor. Other placements are also contemplated. Thesystem codec 109 may receive audio and/or video data from a network,such as a LAN (local area network) or the Internet. The system codec 109may send the audio to the speakerphone 105/107 and/or sound system 161and the video to the display 101. The received video may be HD videothat is displayed on the HD display. The system codec 109 may alsoreceive video data from the camera 104 and audio data from thespeakerphones 105/107 and transmit the video and/or audio data over thenetwork to another conferencing system, or to an MCU for provision toother conferencing systems. The conferencing system may be controlled bya participant or user through the user input components (e.g., buttons)on the speakerphones 105/107 and/or input devices such as the keyboard140 and/or the remote control 150. Other system interfaces may also beused.

In various embodiments, the codec 109 may implement a real timetransmission protocol. In some embodiments, the codec 109 (which may beshort for “compressor/decompressor” or “coder/decoder”) may comprise anysystem and/or method for encoding and/or decoding (e.g., compressing anddecompressing) data (e.g., audio and/or video data). For example,communication applications may use codecs for encoding video and audiofor transmission across networks, including compression andpacketization. Codecs may also be used to convert an analog signal to adigital signal for transmitting over various digital networks (e.g.,network, PSTN, the Internet, etc.) and to convert a received digitalsignal to an analog signal. In various embodiments, codecs may beimplemented in software, hardware, or a combination of both. Some codecsfor computer video and/or audio may utilize MPEG, Indeo™, and Cinepak™,among others.

In some embodiments, the videoconferencing system 103 may be designed tooperate with normal display or high definition (HD) displaycapabilities. The videoconferencing system 103 may operate with networkinfrastructures that support T1 capabilities or less, e.g., 1.5mega-bits per second or less in one embodiment, and 2 mega-bits persecond in other embodiments.

Note that the videoconferencing system(s) described herein may bededicated videoconferencing systems (i.e., whose purpose is to providevideoconferencing) or general purpose computers (e.g., IBM-compatiblePC, Mac, etc.) executing videoconferencing software (e.g., a generalpurpose computer for using user applications, one of which performsvideoconferencing). A dedicated videoconferencing system may be designedspecifically for videoconferencing, and is not used as a general purposecomputing platform; for example, the dedicated videoconferencing systemmay execute an operating system which may be typically streamlined (or“locked down”) to run one or more applications to providevideoconferencing, e.g., for a conference room of a company. In otherembodiments, the videoconferencing system may be a general use computer(e.g., a typical computer system which may be used by the general publicor a high end computer system used by corporations) which can execute aplurality of third party applications, one of which providesvideoconferencing capabilities. Videoconferencing systems may be complex(such as the videoconferencing system shown in FIG. 1) or simple (e.g.,a user computer system 200 with a video camera, input devices,microphone and/or speakers such as the videoconferencing system of FIG.2). Thus, references to videoconferencing systems, endpoints, etc.herein may refer to general computer systems which executevideoconferencing applications or dedicated videoconferencing systems.Note further that references to the videoconferencing systems performingactions may refer to the videoconferencing application(s) executed bythe videoconferencing systems performing the actions (i.e., beingexecuted to perform the actions).

The videoconferencing system 103 may execute various videoconferencingapplication software that presents a graphical user interface (GUI) onthe display 101. The GUI may be used to present an address book, contactlist, list of previous callees (call list) and/or other informationindicating other videoconferencing systems that the participant maydesire to call to conduct a videoconference.

Note that the videoconferencing system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may bemodified to be an audioconferencing system. For example, theaudioconference could be performed over a network, e.g., the Internet,using VOIP. The audioconferencing system, for example, may simplyinclude speakerphones 105/107, although additional components may alsobe present. Additionally, note that any reference to a “conferencingsystem” or “conferencing systems” may refer to videoconferencing systemsor audioconferencing systems (e.g., teleconferencing systems). In theembodiments described below, the conference is described as avideoconference, but note that the methods may be modified forutilization in an audioconference.

FIGS. 3A and 3B—Coupled Conferencing systems

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate different configurations of conferencingsystems. The conferencing systems may be operable to perform the methodsdescribed herein. As shown in FIG. 3A, conferencing systems (CUs) 320A-D(e.g., videoconferencing systems 103 described above) may be connectedvia network 350 (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet) and CU320C and 320D may be coupled over a local area network (LAN) 375. Thenetworks may be any type of network (e.g., wired or wireless) asdesired.

FIG. 3B illustrates a relationship view of conferencing systems310A-310M. As shown, conferencing system 310A may be aware of CU310B-310D, each of which may be aware of further CU's (310E-310G,310H-310J, and 310K-310M respectively). CU 310A may be operable toperform the methods described herein. In a similar manner, each of theother CUs shown in FIG. 3B, such as CU 310H, may be able to perform themethods described herein, as described in more detail below. Similarremarks apply to CUs 320A-D in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4—Customizing a Conferencing System Based on Proximity of aParticipant

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for customizing a conference based onproximity of a participant. The method shown in FIG. 4 may be used inconjunction with any of the computer systems or devices shown in theabove Figures, among other devices. In various embodiments, some of themethod elements shown may be performed concurrently, performed in adifferent order than shown, or omitted. Additional method elements mayalso be performed as desired. As shown, this method may operate asfollows.

In 402, the method may detect that a participant is in proximity to aconferencing system. As used herein “in proximity to” or generaldescriptions related to a participant being “proximate to” aconferencing system refers to a participant that is close enough indistance to participate in a conference using the conferencing system.Generally, a conferencing system may be within a conference room, so aparticipant being proximate to such a conferencing system may simplyrefer to the participant being within the same conference room as theconferencing system. However, where a room is very large, a participantmay need to be closer to the conferencing system than simply beingwithin the same room to be considered “proximate to” the conferencingsystem.

The detection that the participant is proximate to the conferencingsystem may be performed manually or automatically, as desired. Forexample, the participant may manually provide user input to “check in”to the conferencing system. The user input may be provided in a varietyof ways. For example, the conferencing system may include a log inscreen and the participant may provide a user name and password in orderto check in to the conferencing system. As another example, theparticipant may provide a personal identification number (PIN) that isassociated with the participant to the conferencing system, e.g., via aremote. As another example, the participant may be able to provideaudible commands to the conferencing system in order to check in, suchas by speaking the participants name, providing a log in phrase, etc. Infurther embodiments, the participant may be able to provide a visualgesture in order to check in to the conferencing system. For example,the participant may provide a gesture that is unique to the participant.Thus, in some embodiments, the unique detection or determination of theparticipant may be performed by the participant manually providingunique identification information.

Alternatively, or additionally, the detection of the participant may beperformed automatically. More specifically, the conferencing system (orsome device associated with the conferencing system) may be configuredto automatically detect the participant, without receiving user inputidentifying the participant. For example, the conferencing system may beconfigured to detect a personal device (e.g., mobile communicationdevice such as a cell phone or smart phone, or other types of devices,such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), netbooks, tablets, laptops,etc.) of the participant. In some embodiments, the personal device maybe detected via a short range communication protocol, e.g., via 802.11x,Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC) protocols, etc. Thus, theconferencing system may detect the presence of the personal device,e.g., via a short range protocol, and then determine the participantassociated with the personal device. In one embodiment, the conferencingsystem may store or be able to access (e.g., on a remote server)associations between personal devices and participants. For example, aMAC address of the personal device may be associated with theparticipant in a database, e.g., stored on a server that is accessibleby the conferencing system. Alternatively, the personal device may beconfigured to provide identification information of the participantduring communication. In another embodiment, the conferencing system maydetect a geographic position of the personal device (e.g., which mayreport that geographic position, such as GPS coordinates, to a server)and compare the position to its own, known position. The geographicposition may be determined via GPS, WiFi triangulation, cell towertriangulation, and/or any method for determining the position of thepersonal device. Accordingly, when the two positions are within athreshold, the conferencing system may detect that the participant isproximate to the conferencing system. One or more can also be run justto increase accuracy of identifying the participant.

In further embodiments, the conferencing system may be configured toautomatically detect the participant via image recognition, such as facerecognition. Additionally, or alternatively, the conferencing system maybe configured to automatically detect the participant via voicerecognition, e.g., automatically identifying the participant when theparticipant speaks. For example, the image or voice recognition may beperformed whenever the participant speaks or is within visible range ofthe conferencing system. Alternatively, the recognition may be performedin response to user input, e.g., when using a phrase for checking in,such as “check in” or “log me in” and/or when using a visual gesture forchecking in, such as waving at the conferencing system.

Further manual and automatic methods for detecting the participant areenvisioned. Thus, the method may detect that a participant is proximateto the conferencing system.

In 404, based on the detection that the participant is in proximity tothe conferencing system, the method may automatically customize theconferencing system. Customizing the conferencing system may includeloading content associated with the first participant. In someembodiments, the content may already be stored on the conferencingsystem or it may be automatically downloaded from a server (e.g., over alocal area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), such as theInternet). Accordingly, the content may be loaded onto the conferencingsystem so as to customize the conferencing system for the participant.The content may be any of various settings or other information that isalready associated with the participant. For example, the content mayinclude a contact list associated with the first participant. Thus, eventhough the participant may be at a new conferencing system, his contactlist may be loaded and available at the new conferencing system based onthe automatic customization. Similarly, other content may be loaded,such as system or room identification settings (e.g., to rename thesystem to indicate the presence of or customization for theparticipant), lighting settings, recording settings, camera settings orpresets, conferencing layout settings (e.g., for videoconferences),presentation settings, background images, menu layouts, etc.

Further, a conference schedule associated with the participant may beloaded. For example, the participant may be able to select an upcomingconference and initiate the conference using the schedule. Additionally,some of the customizations described above may also be based on anupcoming conference. For example, if the upcoming conference is for asingle person in the conferencing room, the camera settings or presetsmay be customized for having a single person. Similarly, the loadedlayout settings may be customized based on the expected number ofparticipants or other endpoints in an upcoming conference.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, the conferencing system may becustomized based on the proximity of the participant to effectivelyconvert the conferencing system into a personal conferencing system ofthe participant. In a further embodiment, the method may also broadcastpresence status to all interested users or participants about theparticipant's presence in the meeting room (or proximity to theconferencing system).

In 406, a conference may be initiated or performed between a pluralityof participants at respective participant locations. More specifically,the conference may be initiated between the participant using theconferencing system (e.g., an endpoint at a first participant location)and a plurality of other participants using other conferencing systems(e.g., at other participant locations). The conference may beestablished according to any of a variety of methods, e.g., the onedescribed in patent application Ser. No 11/252,238, which wasincorporated by reference above. The conference may utilize an instantmessaging service or conferencing service over the Internet, as desired.In some embodiments, a multipoint control unit (MCU) may perform orcontrol the conference between the plurality of conferencing systems.For example, in a videoconference, one of the conferencing systems mayact as the MCU and may perform decoding and encoding operations on videoinformation transmitted in the first videoconference between theplurality of videoconferencing endpoints. In some embodiments, theconference may be initiated automatically, as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/724,226, which was incorporated by referenceabove.

FIG. 5—Using a New Conferencing System Based on Proximity of aParticipant

FIG. 5 illustrates a method for automatically using a first conferencingsystem instead of a second conferencing system based on proximity of aparticipant. The method shown in FIG. 5 may be used in conjunction withany of the computer systems or devices shown in the above Figures, amongother devices. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shownmay be performed concurrently, performed in a different order thanshown, or omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed asdesired. As shown, this method may operate as follows.

In 502, the method may detect that a participant is in proximity to aconferencing system similar to 402 above. Additionally, the conferencingsystem may be customized in the manner described above.

In 504, an upcoming conference for the participant may be determined.For example, the conferencing system may determine a schedule ofconferences associated with the participant, e.g., via communicationwith a server that stores the participant's schedule. For example,conferences associated with the participant may include any conferencesthe participant has organized or agreed to join. Such scheduling may beperformed in any number of ways, e.g., via appointments within emailclients, scheduling programs associated with conferencing, via websites,etc. In one embodiment, the conferencing system may send a request tothe server to determine if there is an upcoming conference within athreshold of time of the current time. Alternatively, the conferencingserver may download the schedule and automatically perform the timecomparison. In various embodiments, the threshold of time may be 5minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.

In 506, the conferencing system may be associated with or reserved forthe upcoming conference for the participant. For example, the upcomingconference may have been previously associated with a differentconferencing system. However, in response to the participant beingproximate to the conferencing system within the threshold of time, theconferencing system may be used for the conference instead of thepreviously reserved conferencing system. In some embodiments, the methodmay automatically unassociate the previous conferencing system with theconference so that it may be used for other conferences. For example,the conferencing system may provide a message to release the secondconferencing system from the scheduled conference. Alternatively, thisrelease may be performed automatically by a server managing theconferencing systems in response to the association of the conferencingsystem with the upcoming conference in 506.

Thus, in one embodiment, the participant may have a scheduled conferencecall that is associated with a different conferencing system. However,in response to detecting that the participant is proximate to theconferencing system above, the conferencing system may automaticallyassociate the upcoming conference with the new conferencing system.Accordingly, the participant may use the new conferencing system for theconference even though it was originally scheduled with a differentconferencing system. Further, the method may automatically release orfree the original conferencing system since it is now being performed bythe new conferencing system.

In 508, the conference may be performed using the conferencing system,similar to 406 above. Also similar to above, In some embodiments, theconference may be initiated automatically, as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/724,226, which was incorporated by referenceabove.

Embodiments of a subset or all (and portions or all) of the above may beimplemented by program instructions stored in a memory medium or carriermedium and executed by a processor.

In some embodiments, a computer system at a respective participantlocation may include a memory medium(s) on which one or more computerprograms or software components according to one embodiment of thepresent invention may be stored. For example, the memory medium maystore one or more programs that are executable to perform the methodsdescribed herein. The memory medium may also store operating systemsoftware, as well as other software for operation of the computersystem.

Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects ofthe invention may be apparent to those skilled in the art in view ofthis description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed asillustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled inthe art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to beunderstood that the forms of the invention shown and described hereinare to be taken as embodiments. Elements and materials may besubstituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts andprocesses may be reversed, and certain features of the invention may beutilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in theart after having the benefit of this description of the invention.Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory, computer accessible memorymedium storing program instructions for automatically using a firstconferencing system instead of a second conferencing system, wherein theprogram instructions are executable to: detect a first participant is inproximity to the first conferencing system; determine that a conferenceis scheduled for the first participant using the second conferencingsystem; and automatically use the first conferencing system instead ofthe second conferencing system for the conference based on detecting thefirst participant is in proximity to the first conferencing system andbased on determining that the conference is scheduled for the firstparticipant.
 2. The non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium ofclaim 1, wherein said detecting the first participant comprisesreceiving user input from the first participant to check in to the firstconferencing system.
 3. The non-transitory, computer accessible memorymedium of claim 1, wherein said detecting the first participant isperformed automatically.
 4. The non-transitory, computer accessiblememory medium of claim 1, wherein said detecting the first participantis performed automatically and comprises automatically detecting apersonal device of the first participant is in proximity to the firstconferencing system.
 5. The non-transitory, computer accessible memorymedium of claim 1, wherein the program instructions are furtherexecutable to: determine a current time; and determine a scheduled timeof the conference; wherein said automatically using the firstconferencing system is performed if the difference between the currenttime and the scheduled time is below a first threshold of time.
 6. Thenon-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 1, whereinthe program instructions are further executable to: provide a message torelease the second conferencing system from the scheduled conference,wherein after releasing the second conferencing system, the secondconferencing system is configured for use in another conference.
 7. Thenon-transitory, computer accessible memory medium of claim 1, whereinthe program instructions are further executable to: automaticallycustomize the first conferencing system based on said detecting thefirst participant is in proximity to the first conferencing system.
 8. Amethod for automatically using a first videoconferencing system insteadof a videoconferencing conferencing system, comprising: detecting afirst participant is in proximity to the first videoconferencing system;determining that a videoconference is scheduled for the firstparticipant using the second videoconferencing system; and automaticallyusing the first videoconferencing system instead of the secondvideoconferencing system for the videoconferencing based on detectingthe first participant is in proximity to the first videoconferencingsystem and based on determining that the videoconference is scheduledfor the first participant.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein saiddetecting the first participant comprises receiving user input from thefirst participant to check in to the first videoconferencing system. 10.The method of claim 8, wherein said detecting the first participant isperformed automatically.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein saiddetecting the first participant is performed automatically and comprisesautomatically detecting a personal device of the first participant is inproximity to the first videoconferencing system.
 12. The method of claim8, further comprising: determining a current time; and determining ascheduled time of the videoconference; wherein said automatically usingthe first videoconferencing system is performed if the differencebetween the current time and the scheduled time is below a firstthreshold of time.
 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:providing a message to release the second videoconferencing system fromthe scheduled videoconference, wherein after releasing the secondvideoconferencing system, the second videoconferencing system isconfigured for use in another videoconference.
 14. The method of claim8, further comprising: automatically customizing the firstvideoconferencing system based on said detecting the first participantis in proximity to the first videoconferencing system.
 15. Avideoconferencing system, comprising: a videoconferencing unit at aparticipant location; at least one display coupled to thevideoconferencing unit, wherein the at least one display is configuredto provide video corresponding to other participant locations during avideoconference; at least one audio output coupled to thevideoconferencing unit, wherein the at least one audio output isconfigured to provide audio corresponding to the other participantlocations during the videoconference; at least one video input coupledto the videoconferencing unit, wherein the at least one video input isconfigured to capture video of the participant location for provision tothe other participant locations; at least one audio input coupled to thevideoconferencing unit, wherein the at least one audio input isconfigured to capture audio of the participant location for provision tothe other participant locations; wherein the videoconference unit isconfigured to: detect a first participant is in proximity to theconferencing system; determine that a videoconference is scheduled forthe first participant using a second videoconferencing system; andautomatically use the videoconferencing system instead of the secondvideoconferencing system for the videoconference based on detecting thefirst participant is in proximity to the videoconferencing system andbased on determining that the videoconference is scheduled for the firstparticipant.
 16. The videoconferencing system of claim 15, wherein saiddetecting the first participant comprises receiving user input from thefirst participant to check in to the videoconferencing system.
 17. Thevideoconferencing system of claim 15, wherein said detecting the firstparticipant is performed automatically.
 18. The videoconferencing systemof claim 15, wherein said detecting the first participant is performedautomatically and comprises automatically detecting a personal device ofthe first participant is in proximity to the videoconferencing system.19. The videoconferencing system of claim 15, wherein thevideoconference unit is further configured to: determine a current time;and determine a scheduled time of the conference; wherein saidautomatically using the first videoconferencing system is performed ifthe difference between the current time and the scheduled time is belowa first threshold of time.
 20. The videoconferencing system of claim 15,wherein the videoconference unit is further configured to: provide amessage to release the second videoconferencing system from thescheduled conference, wherein after releasing the secondvideoconferencing system, the second videoconferencing system isconfigured for use in another videoconference.